"Breeders of domestic pets are howling mad over a bill that
would require all dogs and cats in California to be spayed or neutered unless they are registered purebreds and have special, government-issued permits," writes the Chron's Matthew Yi.
Mmmm...
doggy eugenics.
"The main goal of AB1634 is to combat the overpopulation of stray pets -- a problem that forces cities like Los Angeles to spend millions of dollars to expand and build new animal shelters, said the bill's author, Assemblyman
Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys. Shelters euthanize nearly half a million dogs and cats every year, he said.
"'We simply have a huge problem in the state with pet overpopulation,' Levine said. 'I can't tell you how many people have complained to me about cats defecating in their yards, flowerbeds ... and in sandboxes where kids play. It's a huge public safety and public health issue.'"
Meanwhile, "[l]egislation announced Wednesday
would provide a tax-free, long-term investment account to every baby born in California, regardless of the parents' financial or immigration status," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
The bill suggests providing $500 to every child.
"Senate Bill 752 is meant to persuade more families to invest for the future.
"'If we ask people to invest in California, California must invest in its people,' said Sen.
Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, who is co-authoring the bill with Republican Sen.
Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga.
"'Every child ought to grow up knowing that they are worth investing in, from birth on,' Steinberg said.
"The proposed account, called Kids Investment and Development Savings, or KIDS, is meant to grow until the child turns 18 and could withdraw the money for a house, education, vocational training or to roll over into a retirement account."
That
inflation-adjusted $1,363 at 9% interest will go a long way with that down payment.
"A
package of more than a dozen bills to combat California street gangs was introduced Wednesday by Republican lawmakers," writes Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"'This is just getting out of control,' said Sen.
Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach. 'This is nothing short of domestic terrorism ... and it simply needs to stop.'"
"Sen.
George Runner, R-Lancaster, said he hopes to win bipartisan support even though the package has not yet been supported by Democratic leadership. Many members of both parties support cracking down on street gangs, he said."
The remaining support giving each gang member $500.
"State lawmakers have introduced legislation
calling for more governmental oversight of the California State University system, which has come under criticism after reports that some of its top executives were receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra compensation without public disclosure," reports Jim Doyle in the Chron.
"The oversight plan, which includes adding two legislators or their appointees to the CSU Board of Trustees and requires that executive contracts be approved in public session, comes in response to The Chronicle's reports on special compensation packages for current and former executives of the nation's largest university system.
"'This is an effort to earn back the public's trust,' said state Assemblyman
Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), during a news conference Wednesday at the Capitol in Sacramento. 'The general public must have trust in the institutions of higher learning where we put our children.'"
"State Sen.
Lou Correa learned just six months ago that some
developers are tacking transfer fees onto homes they build, assessing a charge each time one of their homes is resold from one buyer to the next," writes the Register's Jeff Collins.
"Builders maintain that the fees – ranging from 0.05 percent to 1.75 percent of the purchase price – help pay for such amenities as open space, affordable housing and environmental mitigation.
"But the California Association of Realtors calls the fee a "private transfer tax" that sidesteps a state requirement that taxes be approved by voters. Correa, a Santa Ana Democrat and a licensed real estate agent, sided with the Realtors, introducing a bill to ban the practice as one of his first acts as a new state senator.
"'Builders … (make) the argument there's a lot of public good that results from these levies,' Correa said Wednesday. '(But) there's almost a resentment on (homeowners') part that the fee is there.'
"Industry officials were unable to say how extensive the practice is, but both sides agree that it appears to be increasing as developers seek new ways to offset rising development costs. The fee typically is charged for 20 to 25 years, but critics say it could theoretically last forever."
Daniel Weintraub looks at
Sheila Kuehl's universal health care proposal. "Senate Bill 840 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica,
would scrap the status quo and replace it with a government-run, single-payer system providing comprehensive health care benefits for all, financed by taxes and free to patients at the point of service.
"'California needs a system of truly universal health care now more than ever,' Kuehl said this week as she reintroduced her bill, which Schwarzenegger vetoed last year. 'This is not the time to wait patiently for universal health care. It's time to move forward."
"Kuehl's plan would mean a vast increase in the power of government over the health care industry and the way services are planned and delivered. Hers is the only proposal on the table that seeks to directly limit the cost of health care. It would do so by setting an annual budget and then enforcing it through negotiations with doctors, hospitals, labs and pharmaceutical companies, or by hiring health plans to provide benefits at a set cost.
"Those benefits would be comprehensive. The plan would cover primary care, preventive care, outpatient and hospital care. It would cover mental health, dental, vision, podiatry, chiropractic care, acupuncture, substance abuse and prescription drugs. Even faith healing. Long-term nursing home care would not be covered.
"Kuehl said this week she does not intend to amend her bill in a compromise with the governor and legislative leaders because it is a concept so different from theirs. While she does not expect Schwarzenegger to sign her bill, she says the next governor might. Or she and the plan's supporters might take their cause to the voters.
"'The facts are on our side,' she said. 'The people are on our side.'"
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
has put a damper on hopes for legislation to protect consumers from lethal bacterial contamination of California-grown lettuce and spinach, saying he favors a voluntary, industry-run program to impose controls on growers," reports Marla Cone in the Times.
"In the wake of two major E. coli outbreaks last fall, state Sen.
Dean Florez (D-Shafter) unveiled a trio of bills a month ago that would ban risky agricultural practices and require state health certification and inspection of farms growing leafy greens. California's farm industry opposes the proposed legislation and instead plans to implement a marketing agreement in April aimed at establishing food-safety standards for the growers.
"Schwarzenegger's aides said the governor had not decided whether he would veto the legislation. But they said he supports the industry-led program rather than a government-mandated approach and told Florez so in a private conversation last week.
"Florez, whose district includes farm areas from Bakersfield to Fresno, said the industry's agreement amounts to "the fox guarding the henhouse"
and called leafy greens growers a "rogue industry" incapable of policing itself. But he is seeking a compromise with the industry, because he said the governor's stance effectively kills the chances of his "California Produce Safety Action Plan" becoming law as originally written.
"'I told him, 'The next one won't be on me, it'll be on you,' ' Florez said, suggesting to Schwarzenegger that if more people die in another E. coli outbreak linked to California crops, the governor could be blamed."
Finally, from our continuing
Visiting Other Legislatures Feature: "Fake bull testicles and other anatomically explicit vehicle decorations
would be banned from Maryland roads under a bill pending in the state legislature.
The measure was filed in the General Assembly Monday by Delegate
LeRoy E. Myers Jr., R-Washingon, who says children shouldn't be exposed to giant plastic gonads dangling from pickup truck trailer hitches. The bill also would ban depictions of naked human breasts, buttocks or genitals, with offenses punishable by fines of up to $500.
"'It's time to take a stand,' Myers told The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail.
"The American Civil Liberties Union objected to Myers' bill."
"'The legislation is overly broad, and would probably make it illegal to have a sticker on your car of the Venus de Milo from an art museum,' ACLU of Maryland spokeswoman
Meredith Curtis wrote in an e-mail."
Keep on truckin'.
